MARFA, Texas (CN) — In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the Big Bend region of far west Texas felt like a kind of oasis.
As the number of people falling sick and dying in places like New York City started to skyrocket in late March, this far-flung corner of Texas stayed mostly unaffected by the virus itself.
To be sure, the region’s tourism-dependent economy was hit hard by government-mandated closures of shops, restaurants and even the sprawling Big Bend National Park at the start of the spring tourist season. But across hundreds of miles of wide-open cattle country and high desert terrain, the number of people known to be infected here held steady at zero for weeks until May, when results started trickling in from mobile testing sites deployed by the state.
Now, as that testing ramps up, any image of the Big Bend as a safe haven from the pandemic is fading.
Multiple new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the area in recent days, bringing the region’s total since the pandemic began into the double digits. The small town of Alpine, population about 6,000, is reported to have nine active cases, while state health officials say they now assume community spread of the virus has arrived, meaning the virus is likely being transmitted locally and not solely coming from people traveling in or out of the region.
“I’d say last week, I don’t think anyone thought … it was like there was no pandemic,” said Amy Ellis, a Montessori school teacher who lives in Alpine.
A few weeks ago, Ellis started a “Pandemic Report” Facebook group for locals to share updates. She’s kept a close eye on the news and has taken the virus seriously herself, avoiding stores as much as she can.
Ellis said she’s felt “frustrated and exasperated” to see the recent jump in cases, particularly as she’s watched some in the community seem to shrug off the risks. She recalled driving down her town’s main drag just after the bars were allowed to reopen.
“The parking lots were full, the tables were full, there were just a lot of people who were eager to be over it and thought it was not a big deal to begin with,” she said.
While the virus numbers in the Big Bend region remain low, they aren’t insignificant. Local officials have warned all along that it wouldn’t take much to overwhelm the region’s health care system, as the one local hospital has only 25 beds.
The hospital, Big Bend Regional Medical Center, said late Tuesday it has not yet had any Covid-19 patients admitted. Nobody in the region has died from the disease, according to state data.
Still, local officials have been holding regular planning talks with the hospital, according to Alpine City Manager Erik Zimmer.
“You know, how many of these nine [active cases] translate into somebody needing to go to the hospital to get a higher level of care?” he said. “So we’ll discuss that and talk about that a little bit more.”
The hospital is keeping a close watch on the situation, a spokesperson said.
“BBRMC takes emergency preparedness seriously and our team has been carefully monitoring this situation and making preparations to safely care for Covid-19 patients for some time,” hospital spokesperson Ruth Hucke said in a statement. “Our hospital is equipped to treat a wide variety of conditions. As always, should capacity or patient acuity levels become a concern, we work closely with other regional hospitals to facilitate quick access to the most appropriate level of care for patients.”
